Essay On Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy

The protein that was concluded was dystrophin. The disease that is associated with this protein is Duchenne. Duchenne is referred to as DMD and is associated with muscular dystrophy. DMD is one of the most common gene malfunctions and is causes by having a problem with a gene which makes up the dystrophin protein. Gupta (2014) explained that when the protein is functioning properly, muscle cells are able to keep their shape and strength, but without it they can begin to break down and become weaker over time. Malfunctions in the DMD gene also change the structure of dystrophin. This can prevent the making of the useful dystrophin. The impaired fibers then begin to die off which can lead to the muscle becoming weak and heart problems that …show more content…
Mostly males are affected by this because females are unlikely to have two different copies of the gene (Duchenne and Becker n.d.). Symptoms that can come along from Duchenne muscular dystrophy are that children affect are most likely to start late at walking (Signs and Symptoms n.d.). Toddlers may have larger calf muscles than their peers because there muscle tissue is irregular. They also may be clumsy and fall many times. As children become a little older, they might start to walk on the balls of their feet and they might have difficulties raising their arms (Signs and Symptoms n.d.). Many children with this disease will end up in a wheel-chair and will eventually need assistance to move their arms and legs (Signs and Symptoms n.d.). This disease can also cause the weakening of the heart which can lead to a condition that is called cardiomyopathy (Signs and Symptoms n.d.). During the pre-teen years the diaphragm that helps operate the lungs can be affect resulting in less effective lungs (Signs and Symptoms n.d.). Duchenne muscular dystrophies on average affects 1 in 3,500 to 5,000 newborn male’s worldwide (Duchenne and Becker